Decay Vanitas Exhibition Analysis

What Once Was There

In this Vanitas exhibition, the theme of decay will be used to relate 3 artworks, one traditional and two contemporary; specifically in relation to physical decay and historical decay. The three artists for these works have been precisely chosen to relate to Decay and encourage young audiences to understand how Vanitas relates to todays society.

The three selected artworks will be presented in the gallery with a target audience of youth. Society itself is decaying when it comes to our knowledge of our history, over time things and people have been forgotten, this is why influencing the young audience to view this exhibition will allow them to have an insight towards Vanitas and its history. Vanitas its self
is a difficult subject to get your head around, so the themes of decay, impermanence and rituals don’t reach younger audiences like trending topics. From using very provocative artists, we are able to get more young people in through the doors.

Still life with Wombat and Melon, has been created with a variety of colours and textures.
The clever combinations of objects in the vibrant photograph enhance Marian Drew’s use of minimalism. The discomforting placement of the watermelon and the wombat next to each other was to symbolize the clash between nature and culture. The wombat’s limpness and quietly shocking destruction of domestic order has been created by drew to make the audience aware of how senseless Australia has become to road kill. Animals like wombats, fruit bats, bandicoots and galahs aren’t even the pinnacle of how environmentally mortifying the littering of roadside animals is in Australia. Together, both the Melon and the wombat are seen as two completely different and complex objects when in reality, they are similar in the way as how overlooked each one is in their natural environment. Usually a dead wombat on the side of the road would just go unnoticed, but when it has been placed with something like a watermelon – that’s known for its hot summer day sustenance - does the reality of how desensitized we have all become to this vulgar and dismaying
idea.

Danie Mellors Paradise Garden, demonstrates his knowledge and skill of the historical and indigenous perspectives, by creating a contemporary artwork that involves multiple media types; and still being able to achieve a Vanitas work that can be linked with the theme of Decay.
A meaningful and ingenious creation using glitter and Swarovski crystal to highlight different features on the work, Mallor has drawn upon the 19th century look of Chinese porcelain by crossing the characteristic blue and white with the recognizable Australian animals, and indigenous culture. The element of value can been envisaged by identifying the blue in the work with how landscape has been transformed through the historical interaction of people and how the original landscape has now decayed and we are left with very minimal wildlife and fauna that we had originally. The element of colour can be linked back to early colonization of Australia, which shows the naturalistic and figurative elements that would have been considered animals. This work is trying to show the viewpoint of how the indigenous are people along with their perspective of the landscape being equal.


Mauritshuis, The Hague, is a traditional Vanitas work that is a perfect and clear example of Decay and Impermanence. The interesting combination of a skull, a turned down whine glass, a compass along with other various inanimate objects that all have dark tones create a dark and melancholy mood. Each object has a memory and has a past, whether it was the key, where its owner is lost, or the skull which dramatically symbolizes death. TO BE CONTINUED

Each chosen artwork will be displayed on a wall due to none of them being installations. There will be diffuse lighting in the rooms, so that it enhances the each artworks different feature. The works will be positioned in a singular horizontal line going straight across the center of the wall. This positioning will make it easier for the audience to admire each Vanitas work. 

Advertising the exhibition will be a major factor in our aim to get youth into the gallery. Posters will be created with singular features of the artworks and will be displayed in areas that are highly populated or frequently viewed. Buses and bus stops will be used to their full advantage along with billboards and cinema previews, which are generally occupied by younger audiences.

The collection for these artworks have been collaborated in an attempt to get a younger audience involved and interested in the interesting idea of Vanitas. The gallery should most definitely choose these three traditional and contemporary works.

A good start Jemma. You need to be mindful of not getting tangential in your use of language. A lot of cutting back can be done, which will help you communicate your ideas with a higher degree of clarity.